Monday, February 27, 2012

Yesterday I tried out Estee Lauder Matte Perfecting Primer (they also have an illuminating primer).

Estee Lauder's website describes it as : "Discover the power of a primer with this targeted formula that controls oil and reduces shine so makeup looks smooth, even, flawless. Soft-vision optics minimize the look of pores and flaws to create an even canvas. Skin-calming Green Tea and Vitamin E rebalance and perfect. Oil-free." The formula is light weight and I needed about a dime size to do my whole face. It did leave my face softer and smoother.

After Primer application

As you can see there's not a lot of difference in the before and after. But I found it did make my foundation go on smoother and it definetly made it perform better throughout the day. My forehead got a little oily, but I was running around all day doing laborious things so it was bound to be much worse with out the primer. I would say this is a very good basic no frills primer for those who just want their makeup to last longer and keep the shine off.

With primer and Teint Miracle on

I still think for the money I would go with MAKE UP FOREVER's primer as it gives immeadiate shine control that is noticeable. But it's nice to have options!So next up Hard Candy's Primer,

Friday, February 24, 2012

This is my first Face of the Day post or FOTD as the cool kids call it. I'm usually rushing around getting ready for work so I don't take a picture of my look and I also haven't mastered the art of getting the colors of my eyeshadow to show up, so I have been shying away from showing my "pretty" side. You always get to see my bare faced blah-ness. So today I did a pink crease with a pale pink lid and winged black liner. It looks soooooo much lighter in the picture than it actually was. Any suggestions on how I can take better pictures without photshopping them would be welcome!

The company describes it as: "HD Microperfecting Primer deeply nourishes, moisturizes, and softens the skin, creating a glowing effect. It forms a protective layer on the skin, which allows foundation to glide on easily and last longer." I don't know that it deeply nourished my skin, but it did make it soft and it looked better with just the primer on.It definitely helped my foundation last all day and I actually didn't get an oily forehead for once!

Primer on - no shine on chin! And Less shine on my forehead!

I also noted you need a very small amount as the product is very fluid.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

It's that time again! The weekly did I get rid of my freckles post. Argggg I think not. I thought I was seeing improvement but I swear it looks worse now. I'm going to put all the pictures in a row week by week .

Before I started Bright Expert

Week 1 (where I swear I see improvement in the cheek area - right?)

Week 2 - Looking more even I think

Which brings us to this week...

It's better than before I started but the "freckly-ness" on my upper cheek and by my nose is back! And I've upped my daily SPF to 70. Argg.

By the way the diffence in the "color temperature of the pictures is because I take them in natural light and somedays it's much lighter than others. Like Yesterday morning when I took the picture for this it was rather gloomy out. I'm going to give it 1 more week and then I may have to find something new...any suggestions?

Monday, February 20, 2012

Today I tried Too Faced Poreless Primer which the company describes as "Primed & Poreless creates the perfect canvas to allow powders, bronzers and foundations to airbrush onto the skin seamlessly and perfectly blended. Skin appears brighter, fresher and younger. Color stays true and in place all day." Wow, those are some lofty claims, but the product does carry a $30 price tag.

Only a small amount of the primer is needed - and it's a neutral color

Camellia Oil & Vitamin A: Essence of the white tea plant and the free radical fighting vitamins are nature’s most powerful antioxidants. Skin looks firmer, brighter and more resilient, even up close.

Seriously? Whoa. I didn't see brightening or lightening of my skin for sure ( I doubt at this point anything could actually lighten it besides bleaching). Youth enhancement - no, anti- wrinkle - no (my crows feet are still there as is this wrinkle that has been on my forehead since I was 30. As for porelessness (is that even a word?) I took a close-up (SCARY) just because I felt like this was a main claim of the product and I think it makes my usually "not bad" pores look worse as you'll see below:

Hello Pores!

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And of course my before and after shots:

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Before Primer

After Primer with Lancome Teint Miracle on

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﻿It did make my foundation go on smoother and the foundation did not get chalky on me as it has in the past without a primer. My forehead still got oily but looking but a light blot with a kleenex took care of it. I think that Too Faced has made TOO many claims for this product, it works ok to hold your foundation on and give you a smoother application, but the the pore enhancement in my case is definetly not worth it. Sooo the search continues.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

So after trying out all those foundations, I figured the next logical step was the primers that could make them even better...or not. I also thought I would use Teint Miracle as my "control" foundation as I think from my previous tests that it could use a good primer. So first up is Rimmel Fix and Perfect.

It is supposed to Smooth Skin and Minimize Pores, it can be used alone to achieve this look (and it's tinted so I guess that is part of how it can smooth on its own, by evening skin tone). Or it can be used under foundation to "achieve longer lasting results". Below is a picture of it on my hand - the "orange" tint is kinda scary!

And then here I am bare faced:

And below with the scary orange primer on:

Not too much of a difference. I definitely would not wear it on its own. I don't really think it does anything for my pores, I think it evens out skin tone a bit. So here I am below with Teint Miracle in Ivoire 1 over the primer.

Again, I don't think it really made my foundation look all that different, but it did blend a little better. However, it did not improve the wear of my foundation through the ten hours I tested it. My pores were actually more defined and my face looked very oily after only a few hours. It definitely didn't live up to its claims for me.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Today marks the 2nd week of my use of Lancome's Bright Expert to defeat my freckles and other face discolorations. (See my previous post for information on the product). So here are my comparison pictures to see how it's progressing (The picture on the left is before I started and on the right, today).

Aside from the color temperature being off, I think I actually see improvement in all areas across my face and I also have noticed that my whole face looks more even in general, 2 more weeks to go! Please feel free to share your thoughts, comments are always welcome!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Today I'm moving onto a different product, I think I've done enough foundation reviews to last everyone a while. I just started using Lancome's Bright Expert so I thought I would show a week by week comparison of my face so we can see how well it works. I know people say it's silly, but I want my freckles GONE! If I'm going to be pale, I want to be all over,even, porcelain pale. So I choose Bright Expert as it is described as "More than 12 years of research on hyperpigmentation and skin unevenness. So powerful that an independent clinical study proves even faster results on dark spot correction than the leading prescription ingredient.* New BRIGHT EXPERT, enriched with yeast extract, virtually erases the appearance of dark spots to reveal an evenly radiant complexion."

I swear with my SPF vigilance I shouldn't even have any freckles, but as I get older they just keep popping out of nowhere, so I figured I needed to start somewhere. Below are pictures of me one week ago (on left) and today (on right).

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I know I may be overly hopeful, but I swear I see less freckles on my cheek and under my eyes. We will see what another week brings me!

And in the mean time I am going to move on to reviewing foundation primers!

Hello,Today I tried Revlon's New Complexion "one step", meaning it gives you a liquid to powder finish in one product. Revlon describes it as "For completely undetectable coverage. The 2-in-1 cream to powder formula gives you perfectly smooth, even-toned skin that breathes." I don't usually feel like my skin can't breathe when wearing makeup as most formula's have rid themselves of the stigma of "feeling like a mask". However I will say this gave my skin nice, moderate coverage and it really felt like I had nothing on - which actually made it hard to apply! First because it is a sponge application I can never tell if I'm about to pile it on or not, and to because I couldn't "feel" the product or really see that much or a result I wondered if I was actually getting any on. But as you can see there's my sponge full of product - which brings me to my rant about how sponge application is the worst and most wasteful way to put on make-up, I feel like it is all in the sponge and very little is getting on my face.

This product would be good to throw in your purse or for travel for touch ups, but if I'm going to use a cream foundation I'll stick with Elizabeth Arden's Flawless Finish. It just didn't give me enough coverage to be a real staple.

Please excuse my "dead eyes" I have a terrible cold and it's showing! You can also see my perma-red nose doesn't even get much better. I have to use like 3 layers of concealer to look normal.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Today's foundation is Revlon PhotoReady in Vanilla. The company's description of this foundation is short " For poreless, airbrushed skin in any light." I dislike the terms poreless, and airbrushed because neither is really feasable, except for in Photoshop.

However, despite it's lofty claims this is a really good foundation! And the color is right on - a warm pale! Which is hard to come by. It lasted all day without losing coverage and it also gave my skin a nice smooth, even appearance (dare I say poreless and airbrushed?) It did not turn chalky or cakey and I was glad to see it has SPF 20.

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This foundation has earned a place on my shelf for sure. I really like the even coverage and long lasting coverage. Well played Revlon!

As you can see it's like skin colored mousse and it's really hard to tell how much you are going to need (a walnut size seems to be about right for me). I couldn't really effectively apply it with a brush so I used my fingers and it feels like putting bubbles that quickly turn to a smooth light liquid onto your face. This is a very,very natural looking foundation, but it leaves behind a nice matte finish and does not turn chalky, or really change at all during the day. Once you get used to applying it, I think this is a good alternative to powder as it doesn't provide much coverage but seems to help you keep a matte finish throughout the day.

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About Me

I am a self professed Beauty Junkie. I love trying as many new products as I can get my hands on and reporting back the results. I'm always looking for the newest, coolest, best... but I like to revist the classics as well. I also love perfume and usually can identify a scent just by seeing the bottle. I live in the heart of the Midwest and am a "pale beauty" hence the Latin translation of my blog to formosa candidus. But I am definetly a green eyed montser in the literal and figurative sense as well. :) Hope you enjoy what you read!

Hello! It's back to beauty blogging today with L'Oreal's Miracle Blur! I received this sample in one of the magazine's I ...

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